10m Passenger Plans

BOSSES at Southend Airport have revealed bold plans to triple its passenger intake in the coming years.

The Carlyle Group, who became one of the airport’s new owners earlier this year, have suggested that they want to take the rise of passengers from 3.5 to 10 million in an ambitious scheme to increase routes and develop the terminal.

Amit Rikhy, president and CEO of The Carlyle Group, emphasises the airport’s potential for significant growth, making it a prime investment. Current destinations include Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Dalaman, Marrakech, Paris, Amsterdam, Alicante, and Lapland, with new easyJet routes to Pisa, Antalya, and Enfidha launching this year.

Passenger numbers have been rising steadily post-pandemic, projected to reach 1 million next year.

At the London Aviation Symposium, Mr. Rikhy highlighted investments to attract more customers and enhance the airport experience.

He said: “Why did we invest in Southend? Access to London.

“This airport is the only airport in the London market that has capacity. The large airports in London are running out of capacity; they don’t have slots.”

Mr Rikhy said the company were planning to invest in the customer experience at the airport.

He continued: “We’re looking at things like self-handling baggage and making it more efficient for passengers to self-check-in … queue management and better wayfinding.

“We invested recently in new X-ray security equipment.”

A date for the expansions has not been given.

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